Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees have agreed to a three-year, $9 million contract to keep him on as Yankee manager, according to reports.
From ESPN:
According to both sources, agreement was reached “right away” between the club and Girardi, with many of the details agreed to at the first meeting between Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman on Tuesday afternoon.
“This was no major negotiation here,” one of the sources said. “The Yankees knew they wanted him back, and he knew he wanted to come back. It was a pretty cut-and-dried thing.”
According to both sources, Girardi’s deal calls for $3 million in salary per year, a figure that puts him among the top five highest-paid managers in the game. Also included is a bonus clause that escalates with each level of achievement, from winning the AL East to winning the World Series, and tops out at $500,000. His previous deal — three years for $7 million — included a similar bonus deal that topped out at $450,000.
“The only managers that are making more than him now are the guys who have been around forever,” one source said. “Guys like [Mike] Scioscia, [Tony] La Russa, [Jim] Leyland. That’s it.”
Girardi’s record in three seasons as Yankee manager is 287-199 (.591), with the 2009 world championship and a trip to the 2010 ALCS, where the Yankees lost in six games to the Texas Rangers, to his credit. Previously, he had won the manager of the year award as a rookie manager of the Florida Marlins, a tenure that ended stormily after a public dispute with ownership.
This is a good move for the Yankees. Despite some complaints that Girardi makes too many decisions based purely on statistics, he has done a good job in New York. Besides which, there are no logical candidates available who could have replaced him.